It was a Saturday morning. Fumo, Shaka, and Waridi were playing in the courtyard of Fumo’s family’s house. First, they argued a lot while deciding which game to play.

“Let us play kibe,” Waridi said.

“No, kibe is a game for small kids, and we are big kids,” Shaka said.

“Even big kids can play kibe,” Waridi answered.

“Kibe is a game for children who are in the first grade. Why do you want to play childish games?” Shaka said again.

“Then let us play football,” Waridi said while holding the soccer ball in the yard.

“Well, let us play football,” Fumo supported Waridi. Then, the three of them started to play football in no particular order. As they were playing, Rehema appeared suddenly and joined them.

“Now, let us compete as two teams. I will be with Rehema,” Fumo said, and Shaka and Waridi joined became the second team. They put sticks as goals and started to play.

Waridi took the ball and dribbled towards Fumo and Rehema’s goal. She dribbled past Fumo, kicked the ball over Rehema’s head, hit it with a strong kick, and scored a goal.

“Yeeaaah! We have scored!” Waridi and Shaka celebrated their goal by jumping up and down. 

Then Fumo took the ball and started the game again, but Shaka snatched it and passed it to Waridi. Waridi ran very fast, dribbled the ball past Rehema again, and scored the second goal. Waridi and Shaka jumped again, shouting with joy.

“Let us change the game,” Fumo said while holding his waist.

“You want us to change the game because we are beating you?” Waridi said playfully as she jumped up and down.

“Let us ride our bikes now,” Rehema said.

“It is not yet time to ride our bikes. Let us play football a little bit, and then when we get tired, we can ride our bikes,” Shaka said while holding the ball in his hand. They all agreed and went back to playing football again. Rehema snatched the ball from Shaka and hit a strong shot to score her goal.

“Gooooooal!” Rehema said while jumping with Fumo. They played again with Fumo, and he got his goal. The result was a two-goal draw for each team.

“Now is the time to ride our bikes,” Fumo said, and they all went to their bikes, which were near the door of the house. Fumo led the riders, while Shaka was the last at the back.

The four of them rode their bikes at high speed. They passed through the town centre and then followed the road towards their school. They passed their school’s football field. They passed the school buildings and went out of town towards the ruins. It was so quiet in the ruins.

“Let us go back to the city; it is very scary here,” Waridi said, looking at the lonely ruins standing out of town.

“We are just passing by, and we will not stop. Do not be afraid,” Fumo said as he continued to ride through the ruins. A thorn suddenly punctured Shaka’s tyre.

“Aah! My bike got a puncture,” Shaka said loudly, and his friends stopped and went back to help him.

“What do we do now?” Waridi asked.

“We will have to tie Shaka’s bike on top of yours, and then I will carry him on my bike when we ride home,” Fumo said. So they all lifted Shaka’s bicycle, hung it on top of Waridi’s, and tied it tightly so that it would not fall. When they were ready to leave, they heard the cry of a small child in the ruins. They were all shocked and looked towards the direction of the crying voice.

“Are there really children here? It may be a ghost who wants to suck our blood. Let us ride back to town quickly,” Rehema said in a trembling voice.

“Let us be courageous and check to see whether it is a ghost or a real child,” Fumo said. 

They all turned and looked at the place where they had heard the child’s cry. They saw a little boy crying while standing near the house ruins.

“That is a child, not a ghost. Let us go and ask him why he is alone in the ruins. Maybe his parents took him out, and he got lost,” Fumo said, and they all walked towards the child.

They walked slowly and approached the child. They saw the child crying with tears streaming down his face. The child looked at Fumo and his friends with eyes full of hope.

“Why are you here alone? Where are your parents?” Fumo asked the child.

 

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